Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Troy Bayliss: “The Panigale has taken a huge leap forward over the 1198…”

Aussie tough guy and super racer, Troy Bayliss reckons the new Panigale is a big leap over the 1198, especially in terms of the bike's handling and power delivery

Three-time World Superbikes champion and current Ducati development rider, Troy Bayliss recently spoke about how he thinks the new Ducati 1199 Panigale compares to the earlier 1198. ‘It’s taken a huge leap forward over the 1198, with much better handling, more control of the engine’s power delivery and better aids to help you achieve the most from the bike,’ said Bayliss, speaking to Motorcycle Sport & Leisure. ‘It’s noticeably less physical too. I don’t like bikes that you have to fight. By reducing the engine’s midrange and placing the power up top, the 1199 has become a whole lot easier to manage. It no longer wants to wheelie randomly at every opportunity and that means you can relax more into the ride and get more from the bike,’ he adds.

‘I’d say the best part of the Panigale is its electronics, which allow you to customize the bike to suit you, be it changes to the suspension or adding on more engine braking. And it’s stupidly easy to alter – if you had the time, you really could go to town with this bike, honing it here and there until it suits you perfectly,’ says Bayliss. ‘It’s going to be extremely competitive. You only need to swing your leg over it to realize just how fantastic it is. When I think back, this bike has more technology than the world championship winning Ducati 1098 I rode in 2008. That says it all really,’ he adds.

Claudio Domenicali speaks about why Ducati chose to engineer an all-new monocoque chassis for the Panigale, rather than going with their steel tube trellis frame

Motorcycle Sport & Leisure also spoke to Ducati General Manager, Claudio Domenicali, who explained why Ducati went with an innovative new monocoque chassis instead of the company’s traditional steel tube trellis frame. ‘The biggest priority was to reduce the bike’s weight, to substantially improve its power-to-weight ratio and handling. The initial target was set at saving 10 kilos over the 1198 and to achieve this, we realized a monocoque frame would be essential. By using the engine as a stressed member, we were able to do without a physical frame to hold the motor in place, which saved us a significant amount of weight. It took a lot of development but we are confident of the 1199 Panigale’s abilities,’ said Domenicali.

Domenicali also spoke about why Ducati chose to stick to the V-twin format rather than moving to a four-cylinder engine. ‘The problem with adding more cylinders is, you also add more weight. A V-twin is very light and has strong torque and midrange figures. It just made sense for us to stick with the configuration. We most certainly weren’t being precious about our traditions. If we would have found a better configuration, we would have taken it,’ he said.

Well, with its dry weight of 164 kilos and 195 horsepower from its 1198cc Superquadro V-twin, we’re suppose the Ducati 1199 Panigale really is something special. Now all that remains for us is to find that $25,000 which would allow us to buy an 1199S and perhaps get a Termignoni exhaust fitted. Oh yes, that would do very nicely… :-D